National If Pets Had Thumbs Day: What Would a Pet Do?

If Gus had thumbs, he would drive the boat!

National If Pets Had Thumbs Day was created by Ruth and Tom Roy in the early 2000s as a way to encourage people’s imagination and appreciation towards a funny aspect while realizing how much we provide for our pets. So, lets dig into our imagination as we picture a world where our pets have opposable thumbs.

The easiest thing to imagine is probably what a lot of us fear, and that is our beloved yet innocent pet now has the ability to open the refrigerator, jars, containers, the cupboard, and anything else that might contain food. Dogs already love to eat anything they can get their mouth on. While cats can be a bit picky, they certainly don’t like to have closed doors so you can bet all that food they didn’t eat is about to go bad. We would certainly have to adapt to have better food storage or locks on the refrigerator. It’s a good thing Advanced Animal Transport teaches CPR for humans and pets, because it’ll likely be needed after the pets have devoured everything they can find. 

Another interesting but terrifying thought would be that my pets can open doors and gates now, yikes! Dogs that are trained well could just open the door for themselves and come back in after going to the bathroom or they could even use the restroom in the house with some more training. Cats on the other hand are so independent that they would just leave the door open and have all the other cats in the area cause havoc in the house. I’m going to have to invest in some new doors with anti-pet with thumbs locks to get my pets safe and sound in this fictional world.

Movies and Television can give us an insightful view of our furry friends with thumbs. Perhaps like Puss in Boots, I can teach my cat to wield a sword but that would likely be a terrible idea. My cat, Trini would probably love actually acting like the Power Ranger she is named after, flipping through the air using daggers to fight monsters. Every dog could be like Air Bud and play basketball with you. Wouldn’t that be a sight to see a bunch of our canine friends playing basketball with everyone! You could teach your dog martial arts like in Paws of Fury making your dog an awesome protector. In a world where our pets have opposable thumbs, would they eventually be able to grow more intelligent and independent with a semi-society of their own like in Zootopia?

Dogs would be able to gain a skill that cats have had an advantage over for a long time, which is to climb, thanks to their newly usable thumbs. This would certainly make dogs very interesting to see interacting on the playground, perhaps using the jungle gym or trying out the swings. Now, this doesn’t mean diminish the climbing skills cats have but rather allows them to elevate their climbing abilities to include swinging from branches like monkeys and being able to actually get themselves down without need of the Fire Department for a rescue. For sure, you will have a hard time keeping them from climbing on top of everything in the house, including the house itself.

This thought exercise has given me a lot to consider how much more I would need to keep my pets safe from potentially overeating, getting outside by themselves, starting a cat gang warfare in the living room, or getting into all sorts of things they shouldn’t including my car. One thing is for certain, Advanced Animal Transport will still be the preferred way to get your valued pet to any location safely rather than letting them drive the car by themselves.

Finally, let’s talk about how we can celebrate this day with our pets beyond a fun thought exercise. The easiest will be doing activities together such as going on a walk (even with your cat on either a harness or cat backpack), sharing some type of treat that your pet can have and you might enjoy as well, or playing fetch. While they may not have those thumbs to grab and throw the ball or toy back, a lot of pets do like to bring them back to you including cats with some of their favorite toys. You can dress up in themed costumes and take pictures together such as Shrek with Puss in Boots or Superman with Krypto the Superdog. Take the day to enjoy some time with your pet as they love to be with you whenever they can.

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Happy National If Pets Had Thumbs Day!